The Idea of the Law Review: Scholarship, Prestige, and Open Access (original) (raw)

Open Access in a Closed Universe: Lexis, Westlaw, Law Schools and the Legal Information Market

Lewis & Clark Law Review, 2006

Article also looks at the role of dominant players, such as Lexis and Westlaw, and the ways in which information dissemination has changed with the advent of electronic legal information services, including through new publication models such as SSRN and bepress. Consumers of legal information, including commercial users, law school users, and the general public are also considered, particularly with respect to the implications of legal information industry structure for questions of access to legal information in the digital era.

The Law Review Approach: What the Humanities Can Learn

Academic Questions, Vol. 26, Issue 1, 2013

This essay describes how the law review process generally works and then discusses what the humanities can learn and borrow from the law review process. It ends by advocating for a hybrid law review/peer review approach to publishing. The law review process is not a panacea for our publishing ills. It has several drawbacks and shortcomings. This essay highlights the positives and notes some of the negatives of the law review publishing process, but a lengthy explanation of all that is good or bad about law reviews is not my aim. Every law review has its idiosyncrasies and methodologies, but most share certain overarching procedures and protocols that can be evaluated in terms of their similarity.

Disclosure, Scholarly Ethics, and the Future of Law Reviews: A Few Preliminary Thoughts

2013

The reader should know through whatspectacles his adviser is viewing the problem. 1-William O. DouglasWashington Law Review (1965)Scholarship is the work-product of scholars. The word derives from the Latin schola, as in school. Hence, scholarship is related to education, which in turn is related to the advancement of human knowledge. By that measure, the best scholarship may increase our knowledge, both practical and theoretical. But when undisclosed bias affects that which is offered up as knowledge, it may unduly slant our understanding of life, law, and other things that matter. While bias-free knowledge may be a utopian ideal, it is, nonetheless, a principle worthy of our respect.Case in point: According to the Washington Post,2 the National Rifle Association has funded some of the scholarship propounding the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own a gun. Before this sponsored scholarship, such an interpretation of the Amendment was regarded as tenuou...

Citation Advantage of Open Access Legal Scholarship

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2011

In this study focusing on the impact of open access on legal scholarship, the authors examine open access articles from three journals at the University of Georgia School of Law and confirm that legal scholarship freely available via open access improves an article's research impact. Open access legal scholarship-which today appears to account for almost half of the output of law faculties-can expect to receive fifty-eight percent more citations than non-open access writings of similar age from the same venue.

Discussion Law & Society Review at Fifty: A Debate on the Future of Publishing by the Law & Society Association

Law & Society Review, 2016

This contribution presents a series of statements on the future of publishing by the Law & Society Review and the Law & Society Association generally. Framed by the first author's introductory and concluding comments are contributions by Halliday, Liu, Morrill, Seron, and Silbey. This debate, based on a LSR 50th anniversary panel held at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the LSA, is intended to open up a broader conversation among members of the Association. Positions by individual contributors can only be linked to them and not to the group of contributors.

The Value of Legal Writing, Law Review, and Publication

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

While highly developed communication skills contribute substantially to success in other professions and in our personal relationships, legal research and writing is likely the foundation for a successful career in the law. Law review articles are cited by judges in their opinions, by Congress and regulatory authorities in the making of law, and regulations and policy. Any great legal orator, litigator, or Supreme Court Justice will need the benefit of quickly recognizing legally significant fact patterns, the ability to conduct research regarding statutory and case law, and the ability to make compelling, cogent legal arguments. The experience gained from legal research and writing sharpens all these tools. I m hopeful this Article may become a required-reading as one of the first assignments for all incoming first-year law students, or even before any classes begin. Presented first is a brief examination of why lawyers do not write well. Second, is a description of the law review: its value; a brief history of the American law journal experience; the editor selection process; who does what on law reviews; and the number and type of law journals. Thoughts about the writing process and important considerations regarding law review writing in particular are then presented. Reflections by recent law journal editors about their law review experiences are offered, along with suggestions about how authors may improve their manuscripts. Following that, the who, what, where and when of the publication process is covered. Comments about the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN) are presented, then followed by a brief discussion about the currency value of citations. I believe this Article starts a

Legal Journals: In Pursuit of a More Scientific Approach

European Journal of Legal Education, 2005

In 1942, the American sociologist of science, Robert Merton, suggested as one of the norms of academic science that universities ought to be places of 'organised scepticism'. Academic law journals should contribute to this mission, since the quality of an academic discipline largely depends on the quality of its publication culture. Informed by the American experiences including the dominant law reviews, and by contrast an international medical journal, this article tries to obtain a better view of the publication culture involving legal scholarship and the possibilities of improving it. The American format of the law review is generally very distant from the form of publication used in most other disciplines and from legal publications in many other parts of the world. One of the major problems of the legal discipline is that non-Americans generally do not publish in American law reviews vice versa. As a consequence, a proper, worldwide academic exchange of ideas is hindered. With the exception of a few journals, the world remains divided. This inhibits progress in legal scholarship. If a 'world format' for a legal article is to be adopted, the European model seems more appropriate than the American one.

Discussion Law and Society Review at Fifty: A Debate on the Future of Publishing by the Law and Society Association

Law & Society Review, 2016

This contribution presents a series of statements on the future of publishing by the Law & Society Review and the Law & Society Association generally. Framed by the first author's introductory and concluding comments are contributions by Halliday, Liu, Morrill, Seron, and Silbey. This debate, based on a LSR 50th anniversary panel held at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the LSA, is intended to open up a broader conversation among members of the Association. Positions by individual contributors can only be linked to them and not to the group of contributors.